Chapter 87

The first thing Yan Lei did when he got home was ask Qiao Wei, “How was your day?”

Qiao Wei chuckled. “What are you worried about?”

“Nothing, just checking if you had a smooth day or not,” Yan Lei said.

Liar, his eyes were full of worry.

“I’m an adult, I can handle whether it’s smooth or not. I’m not a child,” Qiao Wei smiled and said, “Don’t worry.”

Yan Lei said, “The main difference is between the county committee and the town.”

“I know, it’s pretty obvious.”

Qiao Wei’s words made Yan Lei realize that she must have encountered something.

“It’s just that everyone has a bit of an arrogant attitude. Maybe because I’m from a subordinate unit.”

As she said this, Yan Lei scrutinized her.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“You didn’t suffer, did you?” Yan Lei was worried.

He was observing her mood to see if she had been treated unfairly outside.

Qiao Wei smiled brightly. “Rest assured.”

What was he reassured about?

He was reassured that she had the ability to handle bad situations and stabilize her emotions on her own?

Not that she hadn’t suffered.

Right? That’s how Yan Lei understood it.

He nodded and didn’t say anything more.

The next day, before going to work, she dropped Yan Xiang off at the kindergarten. “Xiang Xiang, have a happy day, tell Mommy the happy things and the unhappy things, okay?”

Yan Xiang crisply replied, “Okay.”

The teacher praised, “The child is dressed so neatly.”

Qiao Wei just smiled.

Originally, in the town, she aimed to make Yan Xiang blend in and not appear so different. But when she saw how judgmental the kindergarten teacher was yesterday, today she started to tidy up Yan Xiang’s appearance.

With Yan Xiang’s looks, coupled with clean and tidy clothes, it melted people’s hearts instantly.

You know, many children’s clothes at this time were several sizes too big, sacrificing aesthetics for the sake of wearing them for a few more years.

Moreover, many families had multiple children, so they wore the clothes of their older siblings, which were obviously worn out.

This was a sign of the times, even in the county government.

As soon as she entered the office, Section Chief Zhou told her, “The Secretary is looking for you.”

Qiao Wei said, “Okay,” put down her bag and water bottle, and went to the office.

As soon as she left, a colleague came over and said, “Hey, where is she? I just saw her come in, how come she disappeared as soon as I turned around?”

Another staff member said, “She went to the office.”

Going to the office meant being summoned by the leader.

The first person clicked their tongue and looked at Qiao Wei’s water bottle and bag hanging on the chair, “Carrying a water bottle every day, trying to show off.”

The military water bottle was a fashionable item, and it was becoming popular in the county town now.

But it’s military-grade, you can’t get one without connections. Some people manage to get semi-old ones, with peeling paint and dents, and still carry them around.

Qiao Wei’s was brand new.

She carried it every day because she had to ride a bicycle for forty to fifty minutes, carrying her child, and it was a lot of physical activity. She needed to stop and drink water in between.

Of course, the person speaking ignored this point, and when they couldn’t find Qiao Wei to assign her some work, they hmphed and walked away.

It was Secretary Meng who called Qiao Wei over.

He specifically named Qiao Wei for the secondment, so he naturally intended to use her. Yesterday he inadvertently mentioned that Qiao Wei had been arranged by Secretary Huang to go to the Propaganda Department. When a new person arrives in a new environment, they need time to adapt. He gave her time to adjust and wasn’t in a hurry to assign her work.

Starting today, he needed to delegate tasks.

“The themes of the National Day and the county-town merger, see how to integrate them,” he said.

Qiao Wei pondered for a moment and asked for advice, “Is this article directed at superiors or subordinates?”

She needed to clarify who the audience was. While she couldn’t speak one way to leaders and another way to the masses, the focus of what she said to leaders and what she said to the public wasn’t entirely the same.

Secretary Meng glanced at her but asked, “How old are you, Xiao Qiao?”

Qiao Wei said, “I’m 22.”

Secretary Meng praised, “Still so young.”

But then he said, “Young people should have youthful vigor. You can’t be too much like old folks when you work, real old folks don’t like it.”

Qiao Wei hesitated for a moment and said, “You’re right, I understand.”

Coming from the future, having seen much and knowing much, she had become too confident.

Being overly sophisticated could make one popular in a small town, because in reality, small towns didn’t have such strict bureaucratic hierarchies and intrigue.

No, the small town really couldn’t be called intrigue, it was just trivial matters.

Almost forgot, this was the world of the book, and Xiahekou Town was the main stage of this book, with a simple background, mainly focusing on sweet love.

Qiao Wei unexpectedly left the small town and the main stage of this book, and began to face things that couldn’t be seen in the main text of a sweet love story.

That kind of “I’m one step ahead of the people in this world” mindset needed to be put away.

Children lie, adults see it clearly. Similarly, when subordinates try to be clever, leaders can see it clearly too.

Leaders are leaders for a reason, they naturally have exceptional qualities. The higher the level, the higher the emotional intelligence, the richer the life experience and bureaucratic experience, and the sharper the discerning eye.

Deliberately trying to please someone, the higher-ups are not fools. If they don’t like it, it leaves a bad impression and it’s not easy to turn things around.

Although Qiao Wei was a mature worker, her understanding of the officialdom was still a bit shallow.

But it actually suited her status. Being sophisticated and smooth could be a natural personality trait, but understanding came from experience. She was just a broadcaster from a small town, and she was still young.

Secretary Meng gave her some advice, and she immediately understood and nodded in acknowledgment. Qiao Wei confirmed with the secretary, “When do you need it by?”

Secretary Meng remembered that she had attended a meeting the day before, and the manuscript had been delivered the next morning. It was said that someone had stayed up late writing it.

Young people these days really worked hard.

Her hard work had paid off, bringing her from the town to this place.

Secretary Meng gave her two days, saying, “Give it to me by next Monday.”

Today was already Saturday, so the week was about to end.

That was indeed plenty of time. Qiao Wei agreed, “Okay.”

She felt vibrant and full of energy.

Coming out of the secretary’s office, Secretary Huang smiled and asked, “Are you still adapting over there?”

“It’s going pretty well,” Qiao Wei replied.

“Did the secretary assign you a task?”

“Yes, he asked me to write an article.”

“Write it well,” Secretary Huang encouraged her.

Secretary Huang always smiled when talking to people, and his tone was friendly. Qiao Wei had a good impression of him.

As she walked back, she was already brainstorming. When she returned to her department, she first reported to Section Chief Zhou, “The secretary gave me a task to write an article about the National Day.”

Section Chief Zhou’s expression softened, “Write it well.”

Qiao Wei said, “I want to take a look at some of the previous articles for reference.”

She was someone who worked methodically, not the kind who sought the limelight and rushed in. Section Chief Zhou’s impression of her changed, and he pointed to a location for her, “It’s in the third cabinet.”

The Propaganda Department’s document storage was quite good. The folder in the third cabinet was open, full of materials from previous years on the theme of National Day, including materials from this county and other counties and cities. It was well collected and organized.

Back in the office, she studied and summarized while flipping through several articles, taking notes on key points.

Suddenly, someone came over and slammed a stack of printed materials on her desk. “Bind these.”

Qiao Wei glanced up and saw at least one person drinking tea and another reading the newspaper, indicating that there were people who weren’t too busy to do this kind of work.

“I can’t, sorry. The leader just assigned me a task to write an article, and I have to search for information now,” she said.

The person was unhappy, “But you can’t just refuse to do other work. You seconded people are here to do this.”

So she was here to be a beast of burden, huh? Even if she were, beasts of burden couldn’t multitask, right? They weren’t Nezha.

Qiao Wei asked, “What’s your name?”

The person hesitated, “Huh?”

Qiao Wei stood up and said, “I have to tell Secretary Huang that the office has assigned me other tasks, and I have to put aside the task assigned by Secretary Meng for now. If Secretary Huang asks who assigned it, I have to be able to name someone, otherwise Secretary Huang might think that I, as a seconded staff member, am trying to shirk my duties.”

The person opened his mouth, but in the end, he said angrily, “Fine, do your thing.”

He took the stack of things away the same way he had brought them.

Qiao Wei sat back down and continued to focus on her manuscript.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could feel the others in the department exchanging glances.

Someone sarcastically remarked, “Are seconded people this difficult to manage now?”

Qiao Wei smirked, ignoring them. Little devils were troublesome, and engaging with them would just waste her time. Declining was enough.

Especially in this kind of obedience test, there was no reasoning to be done, either resist or comply.

However, she thought, Secretary Huang was really easy to manipulate.

Her rank was low, and directly mentioning Secretary Meng sounded particularly empty. Although her work was indeed directly assigned by Secretary Meng.

But bringing out Secretary Huang immediately grounded her in reality and provided a real sense of authority.

The advantage of her failure in the obedience test was that once someone tested her and failed, everyone would understand that this seconded person was not an easy target, and no one would come to hassle her to humiliate themselves.

The downside was that people in the department no longer paid attention to her.

At noon, when it was time for lunch, everyone left in groups. If this happened yesterday, it could be said that they weren’t familiar yet, but if it happened today, it was deliberate.

But Qiao Wei had already spent a day here, and she didn’t need Section Chief Zhou to call her anymore. When it was time, she opened the drawer, took out her lunchbox, and hurried to the cafeteria.

A person who eats well, has a good soul.

Interesting thing is, although others join forces to isolate her, she doesn’t care, not even getting angry, instead making those isolating her feel annoyed.

“How can she be like this!”

“Just ignore her, let’s see how long she can hold on.”

After finishing her meal and washing her lunchbox, Qiao Wei checked the time and disappeared from the office.

Who wants to endure humiliation here, she’s not.

Having a bicycle is really convenient. Qiao Wei rode to the department store.

The department store is not far from the county government compound, but walking back and forth would be a bit tight on time. Having a bike makes it much easier.

She bought a pack of peach pastries.

Peach pastries are good at this time, whether for oneself or as a gift, they’re a good choice.

She rode back like the wind. Holding the peach pastries, she went straight to the kindergarten.

“Teacher Xia, Teacher Xia~” she called softly across the railing.

“Oh, it’s Yan Xiang’s mommy.” For some reason, Teacher Xia smiled very sincerely at her.

Yesterday, the teachers found out that Yan Xiang is from a cadre’s family, and they all started smiling at her. But today, Teacher Xia’s smile was even more genuine and natural.

She came over and said, “The children are all asleep.”

“It’s okay, I’m not here to check on the kids.” Qiao Wei handed the peach pastries to Teacher Xia. “Bought some peach pastries. Teachers have worked hard, quickly while the little ones are asleep, have a good rest, drink some tea, eat some peach pastries, relax a bit.”

“Oh my, this isn’t right, I shouldn’t let you spend money.” Teacher Xia politely pushed it back.

“Don’t be so polite, Yan Xiang really likes you.” Qiao Wei smiled. “Take it, I have to go back to work. I’ll be late, and the leader will scold me.”

And she left.

Teacher Xia took the peach pastries back to share with everyone. “Yan Xiang’s mommy bought them.”

People are easy to persuade. Everyone said one after another, “Yan Xiang’s mom is too polite.”

“No wonder she’s from a cadre family.”

“Have you noticed how white her shirt is, it looks so clean.”

“And Yan Xiang too, such a clean child, carrying tissues in his pocket, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief after eating, and using tissues to blow his nose.”

“Such an easy-going child.”